Wachs Sebastian, Vazsonyi Alexander T, Wright Michelle F, Ksinan Jiskrova Gabriela
Department of Educational Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
Department of Family Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States.
Front Psychol. 2020 Jun 11;11:1368. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01368. eCollection 2020.
The relationship among cyberbullying victimization, lower self-esteem, and internet addiction has been well-established. Yet, little research exists that explains the nature of these associations, and no previous work has considered the inability to identify or describe one's emotions, namely, alexithymia, as a potential mediator of these links. The present study sought to investigate the indirect effects of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem and internet addiction, mediated by alexithymia. The sample consisted of 1,442 participants between 12 and 17 years ( = 14.17, = 1.38, 51.5% male) from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Results showed a direct relationship between cyberbullying victimization and self-esteem and an indirect association mediated by alexithymia in the Dutch sample. However, in the German and U.S. samples, only an indirect relationship via alexithymia, but not a direct effect of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem, was found. Consistent across the three country samples, cyberbullying victimization and internet addiction were directly and also indirectly associated via alexithymia. In sum, findings indicate that alexithymia might help better understand which detrimental effects cyberbullying victimization has on adolescent psychological health. Thus, cyberbullying prevention programs should consider implementing elements that educate adolescents on the ability to identify and describe their own emotions.
网络欺凌受害、较低的自尊与网络成瘾之间的关系已经得到充分证实。然而，很少有研究解释这些关联的本质，而且之前的研究都没有将无法识别或描述自己的情绪，即述情障碍，视为这些联系的潜在中介因素。本研究旨在调查述情障碍作为中介因素，网络欺凌受害对自尊和网络成瘾的间接影响。样本包括来自德国、荷兰和美国的1442名年龄在12至17岁之间的参与者（平均年龄 = 14.17，标准差 = 1.38，51.5%为男性）。结果显示，在荷兰样本中，网络欺凌受害与自尊之间存在直接关系，且述情障碍起到了间接中介作用。然而，在德国和美国样本中，仅发现了通过述情障碍的间接关系，而未发现网络欺凌受害对自尊的直接影响。在三个国家的样本中一致的是，网络欺凌受害与网络成瘾之间不仅存在直接关联，也通过述情障碍存在间接关联。总之，研究结果表明，述情障碍可能有助于更好地理解网络欺凌受害对青少年心理健康有哪些有害影响。因此，网络欺凌预防项目应考虑实施一些内容，教导青少年识别和描述自己情绪的能力。
